We've been following the life cycle of Kanye West's latest Nike collaboration sneaker, the Air Yeezy 2, since our first whiff of the impending release at LAST YEAR's Coachella Festival. Since then, it's been all nail-biting anticipation and longingly tracing the path of that reptilian ridged heel in our dreams until we might finally entertain the thought of potentially owning these cool kicks. Late last month, Nike finally gave the sneakers an official release date: Saturday, June 9, 2012. Naturally, the shoes hit the Internet well before release in the form of $80,000+ eBay pre-orders, and sneakerheads started lining up many days in advance for their shot at the shoes. But what actually happened on Air Yeezy 2 release day?

A customer waits in line for the Kanye West Nike Air Yeezy 2 release in Germany.Photo: Getty Images

After the Nike Foamposite Galaxy riots earlier this year, stores likely battened down the hatches in preparation for the shoes' official retail debut and with complete and total warrant. According to MSN, one sneakerhead shelled out $400 for a spot in line in Royal Oak, Michigan - that's more money than the shoes themselves, which boast a sticker price of $375! Unfortunately, it wasn't all credit-card swiping and wafts of unmistakable new sneaker scent. The Plainfield Patch reported that seven men were robbed outside of an Illinois mall while waiting in line for a chance at the shoes, and the New York Post interviewed several NYC residents who want to "wait until some of the heat dies down" before wearing the shoes in public. Dangggggg, all this hysteria over some (granted, extreeeeeemely beautiful) SHOES!